Uber coming to more Canadian Cities

UPDATES: Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft approved by City Council, their services will begin on March 01, 2018.

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are coming into the Winnipeg’s market. They will be able to operate alongside taxis in Winnipeg as early as March 01, 2018 as part of a new plan to regulate vehicles for hire. However, if you are ever involved in an accident due to an Uber, it might be a good idea for you to check out someone like an Uber accident lawyer, as they may be able to guide you through the legal processes involved in events such as this.

Winnipeg’s Mayor Brian Bowman offered additional amendments to the proposed by-law to regulate taxis and ride-hailing services. The amendments will go to the council regular Wednesday meeting on which the final decision will also be made by the City Councillors. The amendments include:

Taxis will be allowed to use bus-only diamond lanes on a one-year trial basis. The administration had previously rejected this request from the industry.

Both taxi and ride-hailing drivers will have to provide the same background checks: criminal, driving records, vulnerable persons and child-abuse registry.

Ride-hailing drivers will have to pay a three-cent-per-ride levy, with the funds earmarked for a driver safety campaign.

Issue 60 new taxi licenses effective March 1, with another 60 licenses issued at the end of 2018. The original proposal called for all 120 additional taxi licenses to be issued effective March 1. The new licenses will be issued on a lottery basis.

“Over the last two weeks, I have been listening intently to the feedback received from many different industry and public stakeholders on the draft Vehicle For Hire bylaw. The changes I’m proposing are a further refinement and improvement to what I believe was an already balanced starting point.” – Mayor Bowman said.

The first city in Canada to authorize ride-hailing like Uber was in Edmonton last March 2016. It has been followed by other communities like Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Hamilton, Waterloo, and other cities.

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